Above: The description for this 1941 photograph reads: "Farm worker's wife making hooked rug in sewing class. A WPA (Work Projects Administration) project at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) labor camp. Caldwell, Idaho." During the New Deal, many classes were conducted to teach people how to make products out of scrap material, either for sale (to make a little money) or home use (to save a little money). Photo by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, and provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: A WPA hook rug project in the Virgin Islands, between 1935 and 1943. The description for this photograph reads, "These women are adept at all handicrafts, and the products are both artistic and colorful." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Another view of the WPA hook rug project in the Virgin Islands (see previous photo). The description for this photograph reads, "Under this project women have been taught to hook rugs. It has been so successful and a market has been found for the rugs that it is hoped this industry will continue." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: New Deal rug-making projects in the Virgin Islands had started even earlier than the WPA, for example, this project in the Civil Works Administration (CWA, 1933-1934). Photo from: Henry G. Alsberg, America Fights the Depression: A Photographic Record of the Civil Works Administration, New York: Coward-McCann Publishers, 1934, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: This photo was taken in Miami, Florida, between 1935 and 1943, and the description for it reads, "Women of all ages find rug making a very interesting and profitable activity. This activity is part of the WPA Recreation Program in Miami." Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Women making rugs on a WPA sewing room project in Spokane, Washington, December 1935. WPA-produced rugs were usually given to families in need of assistance. For example, in 1935 it was reported that WPA sewing rooms in Idaho would be making clothes, and also "pillow cases, sheets, and rugs for relief clients" ("Idaho Gets Funds For Needlework," The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland, Oregon), September 17, 1935, p. 13). Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Two disabled military veterans on a WPA rug-making project in Springfield, Massachusetts, between 1935 and 1943. The New Deal recognized and utilized the skills of disabled Americans on many projects across the country. This type of work provided therapeutic benefits, modest pay, job training and, of course, goods for distribution to lower-income Americans who could not afford to buy such products in the private marketplace. Photo from the National Archives.
Above: Another scene at the WPA rug-making center for disabled workers in Springfield, Massachusetts (see previous photo and caption). Photo from the National Archives.
Above: A WPA class for weaving rag rugs, Costilla, New Mexico, September 1939. Photo by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, and provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Above: Newspaper archives are filled with articles about New Deal rug-making projects and show, among other things, that young women in the National Youth Administration (NYA) produced many rugs between 1935 and 1943, winning awards and accolades along the way. In this Associated Press article--from the March 21, 1937 edition of The Humboldt Times (Eureka, California)--we see that thrift not only guided the search for scrap material, but also for tools! Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Above: In between the termination of CWA (see 4th photo & caption from the top of this blog post), in March 1934, and the beginning of WPA, in July 1935, the Work Division of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provided jobs for the unemployed, and funded the same types of projects as CWA and WPA, including rug-making. Indeed, FERA workers made 70,700 rugs during the Work Division's existence, just 15 months. Photo from the Work Division's final report.
Above: Another FERA rug-making project (see previous photo and caption), 1934-1935. Photo from the Work Division's final report.
Above: FERA also provided funding for cooperatives; and some of these co-ops produced rugs, such as the Berkeley Self-Help Cooperative. Image from the Work Division's final report.
Above: "Women of the Rug Cooperative," an organization funded by the New Deal's Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA), 1937. To learn more about PRRA, be sure to check out: Geoff G. Burrows, The Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration: New Deal Public Works, Modernization, and Colonial Reform (University Press of Florida, 2024). Photo from Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (accessed January 12, 2026).
How Many New Deal Rugs?
It does not appear that a comprehensive study has ever been done on New Deal rugs; and, if records were kept at the time, they are not easily accessible today. However, if 70,700 rugs were created under the auspices of FERA's Work Division, in just 15 months, the total number--when we consider the much longer-lived WPA and NYA, as well as CWA and cooperatives--might be close to a million.
